Etymograph

English

laugh

Laugh comes from Middle English laughen, from Old English hlæhhan, hliehhan ‘to laugh’, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *klek- ‘to laugh, cackle’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*klek-1‘to laugh, cackle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlahjaną1‘to laugh’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlahhjan1‘to laugh’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hliehhan1‘to laugh’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laughen1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602laugh1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English laugh
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare: “But there was ſuch laughing, Queen Hecuba laught that…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*klek-Wiktionary, English laugh‘to laugh, cackle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlahjanąWiktionary, English laugh‘to laugh’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlahhjanWiktionary, English laugh‘to laugh’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hliehhanWiktionary, English laugh‘to laugh’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laughenWiktionary, English laugh
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602laughWiktionary, English laugh. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare: “But there was ſuch laughing, Queen Hecuba laught that…”

Linked words

through Old English hliehhan ‘to laugh’

low, 1 more

Today it means

noun An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “laugh”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *klek- / laugh

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